Application note AVR910

Programmers for Atmel AVR MCU line

Description

AVR910 compatible programmers are connected via an asyncronous
RS-232 port.
The programming hardware can be serial or parallel, the hardware that
is described in the application note is a simple low-voltage serial
programmer controlled by an AT90S1200.
Most ISP functions are controlled by the firmware. But there are some
things that must be initiated by the driver (like writing pages to the
Flash-EPROM). Therefore the driver also needs knowledge about the
device to program - in other words: must support this device.
The device support therefore depends on both the driver and the
firmware version.

The system load created by the driver for this programmer is low.
Therefore very old machines are sufficient to use it - even if they do
not have a fixed disk (Verified using a 286-10 machine with a 16550A
UART running DOS).